This invention relates generally to woodworking and more particularly to a router table for use in cutting dovetail joints and in other precision woodworking operations.
Dovetail joints, finger joints and other common woodworking joints are often made with an electrically driven router. Because the cuts that form the fingers and slots of the joints must be precisely located in order to result in tightly fitting joints, router tables are often used because of their ability to make more precise cuts than can be made by hand. Most router tables mount the router below a table with the rotational axis of the router bit oriented vertically. U.S. Pat. No. 4,163,465 to Strong shows another type of router mount in which the router is held on a vertical support plate. A horizontal base plate is located below the support plate and is provided with a miter gauge groove. The router bit projects horizontally through the support plate and can be adjusted up or down by moving the support plate up or down through a screw crank mechanism.
Devices of the type shown in the aforementioned Strong patent are characterized by a number of drawbacks, including the relatively small size of the working surface. Perhaps even more importantly, routing operations on mitered corners can not be carried out without the use of a special fixture which rides in the miter slot on the base plate. Even when the special fixture is used, routing operations on mitered corners are at best difficult to carry out in an accurate manner. Additionally, the need for a special fixture for mitered joints complicates the equipment and increases the cost appreciably.
The present invention provides an improved router table which permits a wide variety of routing operations to be accurately carried out, including the cutting of dovetails and other types of joints in mitered corners. In accordance with the invention, the router is carried on a hinged mounting plate which can be tilted to the proper angle corresponding with the angle of the mitered joint.
Another important feature of the invention is the provision of a table which can be moved up and down and which can be easily and accurately adjusted as to its vertical position. Four vertical screws are used to mount the table on its supporting framework, and the connection of the screws with the four corners of the table provides a strong structural arrangement while at the same time allowing the table to be precisely adjusted up and down in order to properly locate the table surface relative to the router bit.
A further object of the invention is to provide a router table having an adjustment system for the table that maintains the working surface of the table horizontal at all times. The chain and sprocket mechanism which drives the screws up and down is operated by a hand crank and is arranged to assure that all sprockets are turned in unison in the same direction, thus assuring that all screws are extended and retracted the same distance.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a router table of the character described in which the router mounting plate can be rigidly and securely locked at any desired tilt angle between vertical and horizontal.
An additional object of the invention is to provide, in a router table of the character described, an arrangement for accurately and repeatably locating the router mounting plate in commonly used tilt angles such as 45.degree..
A still further object of the invention is to provide a router table of the character described which is constructed in a simple and economical manner and which accommodates routers that vary in size and style.
Other and further objects of the invention, together with the features of novelty appurtenant thereto, will appear in the course of the following description.